This post originally appeared on the Celebrating Financial Freedom blog at http://www.cfinancialfreedom.com

Everybody likes to find good deals online! You, the CFF readers, have even told me so in many of the surveys I’ve done. So I wanted to share this Ebates review with you today to help you save money on all your online purchases, plus get $10 free when you sign up with Ebates.com!

Ebates Pays You to Shop

Who doesn’t want to get money back just for doing their regular online shopping?

In this post I’ll show you:

What Ebates is all about

How to save money on online purchases with Ebates.com

How to also get free cash back on every online purchase you make

Why Ebates is not a scam

Tips for using Ebates.com to get discounts plus cash back on your online purchases

In fact, in comparison to other cash back websites, I believe this is likely the best cash back website you can use!

So What is Ebates.com?

The first thing most people ask is “what is Ebates and why should I use it?”

Ebates.com is an online company that partners with online retailers to give you cash back each time you make a purchase from one of their partners.

Here’s what it says on their site:

“You get Cash Back at over 2,000 stores every time you start your shopping trip at Ebates. There are no points to redeem, no forms to mail in and no fees. Stores pay Ebates a commission for sending you their way, and Ebates shares the commission with you as Cash Back.”

Ebates Gives You Free Money For Shopping Online

Every store negotiates a different deal with Ebates, so when you find the store you want to purchase from you’ll see a percentage telling you how much cash back you’ll receive in your Ebates.com account when you make a purchase.

You can earn cash back at over 2,000 different stores, so wherever you shop online, you’ll likely be able to get cash back using Ebates to shop at that store!

I’m talking about household brand names like:

Amazon

Gap

Walmart

Kmart

Kohl’s

JC Penney

Petco

Groupon

Ebay

Starbucks

Ulta

Macy’s

Dick’s Sporting Goods

Walgreens

Under Armour

Nike

Staples

Lowes

Orbitz

Loft

Travelocity

And thousands of others!

The cool thing about Ebates.com is that it rewards you with cash for doing the online shopping you’re already doing! That includes grocery shopping, clothing, cosmetics, school supplies, office supplies- anything you normally buy online!

You’ll earn a Big Fat Check that will be sent to you in the mail or via PayPal. You only have to earn $5.01 to get your first Big Fat Check!

Ebates is Free- No Fees, No Gotchas

Pretty much everybody shops online these days, so if you can get discounts and cash back for every online purchase you make, why wouldn’t you do it?

Also, Ebates is completely free! There are no monthly fees or hidden gotchas. You don’t have to enter any credit card numbers or other highly sensitive information.

What you see is what you get- automatic discounts and cash back for all your purchases!

Get Discounts Plus Cash Back

Another interesting feature that sets Ebates.com apart is that you can still use discounts, coupon codes, and promo codes when you shop at your favorite store through the Ebates cash back website.

You’ll get a discount on your shopping, plus cash back on your purchase!

That’s a double whammy that saves you a ton of money just by shopping through Ebates.com instead of going straight to the retailer’s website!

How to Use Ebates to Get Cash Back on Your Online Shopping

The best way to use Ebates for your online shopping is to get into the habit of logging into your Ebates account first whenever you shop online. Here’s what the home page looks like:

Once you log in, then proceed to the retailer you want to purchase from. If you don’t see your favorite retailer listed on the home page, just use the search bar at the top to search for the retailer you want.

In this example, I clicked on the “Amazon” tab in the picture above, which took me to Ebates' Amazon page which lists Amazon’s cash back categories:

Then when you click the orange “shop now” button on the left, you’ll see a page like the one below. This page shows how much cash back you’ll receive on certain items or categories at Amazon.com:

Then you’ll be automatically directed to Amazon’s official home page where you can shop as usual. Ebates.com keeps up with what you purchase and credits cash back to your Ebates account after you check out.

Ebates Adds Up to a Lot of Cash Back

Just think of all the money you spend at Walmart, Target, Amazon, and all those other online retailers you buy from all year long.

You will earn cash back for every single thing you purchase!

That adds up to a lot of cash over time!

Is Ebates a Scam?

Nope, Ebates is not a scam at all! It’s actually a well-respected business that’s been around since 1998 and has built a reputation as THE go to website for coupons and cash back on your online purchases.

So How Does Ebates Make Money?

Ebates.com makes money by being an affiliate for all of the stores it lists on its site. Here’s how their business model works:

You log into your Ebates.com account and start shopping.

Each time you make a purchase, the store pays Ebates a small fee for sending you their way.

Ebates.com then shares part of that small fee with you in the form of cash back into your Ebates account!

The reason this works so well is because it’s a classic win-win-win situation.

The store wins because they get more customers.

Ebates wins because they get paid for sending stores more customers.

You win because Ebates shares the money they make with you!

When everybody wins, that’s the formula for a successful business model that makes everybody happy (and richer too)!